the Studio has been published locally and internationally in different design magazines and blogs, amongst which:
DOMUS . ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST MEA . DIVISARE . ARCH DAILY . DESIGNBOOM . FRAME . AGENDA CULTUREL . AECCAFE . JDEED . L’ORIENT LE JOUR . THE DAILY STAR . ELLE DECO . L’OFFICIEL LEVANT . HERSKHAZEEN . AISHTIBLOG .
Introducing Portraits in their latest edition FRAME 119 - Nov. - Dec. 2017
an interview about my work , architecture , design and Beirut, as well as my collaborations for Borgi Bastormagi w architect Nada Borgi and much more.
Beautiful Portrait Photography by Ieva Saudergaite
Amazing Architectural Photography by Wissam Chaaya
Words by Floor Kuitert.
The design of the boutique Des Choux Et Des Idées in Achrafieh Beirut, has recently been featured in Italy's n.1 pastry magazine " Il Pasticcere"
more about the article above.
Site works have started at the DM Nursery Project in Bsaleem | Mezher.
The piling works are to end in September allowing the project to start construction.
For Halloween this year, not sure what scares us more (the Tower being there or the tower being gone)
so Happy Halloween with this GIF ! 2015'
|| Beirut Foldable Doors in a Dining Room ||
The black metal doors inspired from Beirut's streets work as a secondary wall hiding a library behind.
The doors fold to open into the space and when closed light the streets of the city as a drawing on the main wall.
The burning streets effect was inspired from the ongoing violence that the city has witnessed throughout the years.
Sundays' feature takes a look inside my Moleskine recently.
a series of experimentations on processes to be able to come up with new visuals.
Aerial views
Experimentations
Experimentations 1
Sketches
I've recently re.created Mental Landscapes - exhibited originally at Saifi Village - as part of the summer collective of Artheum / Art Lounge.
the artworks "reflect a perception of a reality that is only present in the Artist’s mind. His mastery rests not only in his personal daring and desire to capture the city’s bipolar mindset, but also in his skillful use of details to capture Beirut’s mental confusion of glamorous dream and scarred reality.
From small watercolors and marker sketches to large installations, machine-made structures mixed with hand drawings, Etienne Bastormagi turned his everyday landscapes into complex maps that reflect the states of mind of the man amidst his built environment."
as #BeirutDesignWeek approached for its 4th season, i get ready to launch the new book "Beirut" in collaboration with publishing house Al Khayyat As saghir.
Contacted after my first solo exhibition the publishing house proposed a series of texts of which I had chosen the one dearest to my heart, Beirut and cities.
After months of intensive work and collaboration, the book took a beautiful twist being a collectible to be visited by children and adults alike.
for the signing and to work with the books theme, we are reopening a childrens bookstore in Hamra that has been closed for quite a while now !
the bookstores importance in the city is highlighted through our reopening of the store for the event only, hoping that such efforts will make reading a priority in Beirut !
more on the book very soon:
Below the e-invite for June 04th at 6 pm at Arche de Noé in Hamra
E-invitation
The hard copy of the agenda printed
The featured bio / article about the work and myself.
The three dimensional work centerpiece of the exhibit
For those of you who have missed the event , you can always visit the video on youtube for a quick look at what was exhibited:
Quite a good year 2014 has been ! and lots more to happen in 2015 hoping to make it even better.. !
So the opening night of Mental Landscapes was a success based on your presence and participation, the crowd was fun and the media was all over the place.
Local photographer friend and artist Lyes Restom passed by the gallery and took some awesome snap shots of the visitors gazing at some of the works.
Below is just a sample:
"Chibbeki"
![].JPG](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/519e7100e4b0dd1ef2cfccf6/1410627649365-5ZC3UP6EBDILOSTWLYJZ/%5D.JPG)
Fi a7cha2i Madina
Dark Mental
So for the second optional assignment we were asked to go back into our childhood and move forward from there assembling ten images/films/books/music songs that best capture my current work or interests in art whether as a practitioner, viewer or participant.
As i've been collecting the images throughout the week I realized that they all fell naturally in their place.
So i've decided not to give them the title because for me they were a bit too obvious and I wanted to have a feedback from the people who were checking them out to be able to have a different perception about it ...
So there you go the pictures in chronological order:
Hergé - L'étoile Mystérieuse
Lego - via http://phil-are-go.blogspot.com/2010/06/lego-week-pt-1-space-legos.html
Grendizer - Manga
Star Wars - Movie / Spaceships
"The CIty" - via http://www.twintowers-newyork.com/pictures.htm
Its Oh So Quiet - Bjork - via http://www.sprinklesandbooze.com/wp/tag/90s/
Sagrada Famiglia - Gaudi
The Peak - Zaha Hadid (Moma)
Being John Malkovich - Spike Jonez
Takashi Murakami - via http://www.skullspiration.com/takashi-murakami-skull-art/
So I've recently started my new Cal Arts LIve! Art hitsory course.
And for our first assignment we were asked to choose or make two artworks that describe what we think art should be vs. what we think people think art is.
And having taken a couple of days to think about the assignment, the image of the opening ceremony of the Paralympics in London hit me.
I had read about Marc Quinn, and his sculpture Alison Lapper and how that stirred a couple of reactions from the Vatican when it was displayed in Venice.
It was very obvious that Art for me was about Contemporary values, pushing boundaries of the society and promoting an unseen hidden beauty like the work of Quinn below:
Alison Lapper on diplay at the Trafalgar Square - Marc Quinn
and although this would not be considered as Art for a lot, as I think people have this image of Art that should objectify beauty, and for that I'm choosing Venus de Milo which is an old greek sculpture that was found broken armed.
Venus de Milo - Greek Sculpture - Wikipedia
And ironically as the means of representation are similar and the visual is as well, the fact that we have found a broken sculpture that represents Venus as the symbol of beauty, vs. a modern image that represents what our values should be about and how society should be promoting self-acceptance whether it was this case or any other LGBT example, etc., it still feels that the notion of "beauty" is a matter of conflict and this is where I would stand of what I think art should be vs. how I think ppl perceive it.
Wishing you all on Christmas Day, a warm haven, and your loved ones around.
Merry Christmas
Happy Holidays !
featured: Y-wing table 2013 - designed by Etienne Bas
School Campus In Progress
Art Direction: Etienne Bastormagi
IMAGES: Cliff Makhoul
Read MoreRed and white stripes louis vuitton is on a fire balloon trip ! 2013
Tables, Totems and now Coat Hangers !
Cool new stuff at Le Gray as part of the beirut designweek 2013
Tables
Coat Hanger - Corporate
Coat Hanger - Charleston
